European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was in Tunis on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 October to show the EU's support for Tunisia. While there, Tunisia's President Béji Caïd Essebsi and Prime Minister Youssef Chahed expressed numerous grievances to him.
"Our bilateral relations are strategic relations. We are working in the interest of both parties to further deepen and strengthen these relations for the benefit of our citizens", the Tunisian president stated. "We are friends and together we can do great things", Juncker added.
New support of €270 million
Essebi and Chahed asked the EU to continue its financial support to their country. "We are facing big economic and social challenges. We are implementing many structural reforms. We need to strengthen the EU's support to our country because the economic transition requires much support and understanding from our partners", the Tunisian president said.
As proof of its support, the EU signed four financial agreements with Tunisia on Thursday 25 October – for a total of €270 million. The projects signed aim to strengthen economic competitiveness (€90 million), tax efficiency and fairness (€70 million), reform of the judicial system (€60 million) and energy transition (€50 million). Juncker also stated that since 2011, the EU had dedicated over €10 billion to the country and called for European businesses to invest in Tunisia.
Essebi and Chahed also wanted Tunisia to be removed from the EU black list on money laundering. Juncker said that as soon as the planned reforms have been made and the financial action group (Gafi) has removed Tunisia from its black list, the EU would do the same in the following days through an accelerated procedure.
With regard to the country's presence on the grey list of tax havens, Juncker came across as more optimistic. "What I know from the (ongoing) talks makes me think that we can have Tunisia taken off this list fairly swiftly", he said.
The Tunisian president highlighted young people, calling for a greater implementation of the partnership for youth initiative, launched at the first EU-Tunisia summit in December 2016 (see EUROPE 11681). Juncker said he hoped that the number of Tunisian young people participating in the Erasmus programme would increase. "There are currently 1,800 of them", he said, adding that this was not enough at all and saying that he would also like greater participation in Horizon 2020 and in Creative Europe.
The Tunisian prime minister meanwhile underlined his country's participation in the Open Skies strategy. "Tunisia is ready and calls on the EU to accelerate the process that opens new horizons", he said. The agreement was initialled in December 2017 (see EUROPE 11917).
Juncker furthermore said that the EU and Tunisia have decided to include the country more actively in the EU civil protection programme and have decided to step up their work on this.
EU-Africa relations not limited to migration
While the issue of migration has been the subject of discussions, Juncker did not want to make it 'the' subject of his visit. "Relations between Africa, North Africa and the EU are not only reduced to migration. There is a European tendency to consider relations with Africa through the prism just of migration problems. This is to reduce them and it does not correspond to the high level of our ambitions", he said.
Essebi said he was ready to cooperate with the EU on this subject. "The problem will remain as long as the situation of the south of the Mediterranean and the south Sahara is as it currently is (...) It is a problem to be studied together and calmly with solutions that do not leave anyone on the roadside (...) I am ready to speak to our European friends about ways and means to control this phenomenon, knowing full well that there are situations that are no longer controllable at the moment", he said.
While Tunisia has been mentioned as a country likely to be the potential host of disembarkation platforms, Juncker rejected the idea of host camps in third countries. "It is no longer a topical issue and it should never have been so", he said. Rather, he highlighted the fight against the causes of migration and the development of legal migration. "If we close our doors to those who want to come, despite our needing them, they will come illegally", he said.
Juncker also paid tribute to Tunisia, which has welcomed a million Libyans. "Tunisia is not the guilty party, but one of the victims of internal migration in Africa (...) If it had not welcomed a million Libyan refugees, they would be in Europe. It is important for Europe to know that Tunisia is contributing to relieving Europe's burden", he said. He added that the EU has already helped Tunisian work to address illegal migration with €23 million, saying that it was the EU's "duty" to help the country "financially, administratively and technically". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)